There are, at present, too many information gaps for various stakeholders – from consumers to firms to national masses on the receiving end of government policies – to fully pursue a mandate of green growth. For example, economic rationales are usually not successfully communicated to relevant consumers regarding the environmental benefits of green products and services. Or the fact that the right kind of human capital is often lost due to ineffective communication of jobs and skills required in and for a green economy. Or that governments do not strategically, sufficiently or fully utilize channels of communication in order to reframe the discourse around energy subsidies or to invite the corporate sector to heed relevant policies propagating green growth.

More effective communication would thus involve, among other things, correcting the above-mentioned shortcomings, establishing greater emotional connect through better branding, and leveraging new communication platforms and technologies. Such steps would impact the potency and success of ‘green’ messages transmitted by not only the government and private sector, but also by international organizations, industry associations, and civil society.

One of the specific areas “where better communications would serve to advance economic growth” the white paper identifies is crowdsourcing, or crowdfunding. Take the start-up Solar Mosaic, which sources individual capital through an online marketplace for solar projects in need of financing, or Danger Maps, which collates environmental indicators on specified sites in China.

The emphasis is on cleantech entrepreneurs for the development and subsequent commercialization of green products. Not only are constraints such as lack of finance, lack of time, and limited reach circumvented, there are additional benefits such as “access [to] learning from peers tackling similar challenges through open forums enabling broad, cross-border interactions and connections”.

The Environmental Tracking link? This mechanism runs along similar lines: it offers an opportunity to exploit communication platforms likes crowdfunding, helps in reframing the environment-growth see-saw in price-value terms, and is yet another face of the global civil society publicly promoting green growth through a low-carbon economy.

At the end of the day, “[e]xpanding green investment capital from public and private sources, constructing the right policy frameworks in varied national contexts, and advancing green knowledge and innovation” are key fronts to pursue. And, “better, more coordinated information exchange is a key strategy for furthering green investment and green growth”.